“Then he’ll get in his own way!” Adi Hütter publicly takes Eintracht star Can Uzun to task

Last Friday against 1. FC Köln, Adi Hütter gave Can Uzun a wordless warning. Now he has followed it with stinging public criticism.

Hütter left Uzun on the bench for the full 90 minutes of Eintracht Frankfurt's 1-0 win over 1. FC Köln. The gifted attacking player had previously always been in the starting line-up. Hütter's non-verbal signal on Friday gave way to pointed criticism a week later, although he stressed that he only wanted to help Uzun.

"I've spoken to him about it several times. I'm only here to support him, but also to open his eyes to the fact that there are two directions in football and that it is a team sport. The sooner Can understands that football is a team sport in which he can contribute his abilities, the sooner he will have a very great career. If not, he may end up standing in his own way," Hütter said at the press conference before Eintracht Frankfurt's difficult away match at Borussia Dortmund on Saturday evening.

Uzun's attitude in training during the week also appeared to concern the Eintracht coach. Uzun was "a very good footballer, there's no need to debate that. But I expect consistency, and for him to show the abilities he has during the week as well as in matches," the Austrian said, rebuking perhaps his most talented individual player.

Still, Hütter did not want to make too much of the Turkey international's place on the bench against Köln. "He didn't play once. And immediately it becomes an issue. That's what I can't understand at all. It's not fair to everyone else, either."

To Uzun and the other substitutes from the Köln match, he delivered a clear message: "Everyone can play their way back into the starting line-up. At the end of the day, it always comes down to performance. I also want the competition for places to intensify."

What did Adi Hütter say about Robin Koch?

Captain Robin Koch had already found out that Hütter does not go easy on supposed leaders in times of crisis. During the 6-0 debacle against RB Leipzig, Hütter "spared" Koch by substituting him at half-time: "I simply expect something different from a leader and captain. When you concede 16 goals and you're a leader in defence, at some point I have to send a message. I didn't like that at all. I expect more from Robin."

Against Köln a week later, Koch got another chance to prove himself and played well. Eintracht kept a clean sheet for the first time this season. Hütter was quick to acknowledge it. "Huge compliments to Robin Koch for producing a performance like that after this week," he told Sky: "He dominated in the air and won every header. The way he led the team, too, he gets special praise from me today."

Hütter will now hope Can Uzun produces a similar response on the pitch against Borussia Dortmund.